The Gesualdo Six (actually there are seven of them including director Owain Park, who sings bass as well as directing) are among the UK's hot vocal groups. Fading, their third album, is inspired by the day's-end Compline service, and it may make a good place to begin with the group's remarkable work. Their atmospheric, sensuous sound fits the strongly spiritual quality of many of the lyrics, and they have a consistency of approach strong enough to tie together some rather diverse material. For the most part, Park alternates ...
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The Gesualdo Six (actually there are seven of them including director Owain Park, who sings bass as well as directing) are among the UK's hot vocal groups. Fading, their third album, is inspired by the day's-end Compline service, and it may make a good place to begin with the group's remarkable work. Their atmospheric, sensuous sound fits the strongly spiritual quality of many of the lyrics, and they have a consistency of approach strong enough to tie together some rather diverse material. For the most part, Park alternates Renaissance works with contemporary pieces. There are subdivisions within each category, though, and this is what gives the program its peculiarly powerful variety. On the Renaissance side, there are English pieces and Continental works of the 16th century that venture into more chromatic territory. The one by the group's namesake is the least chromatic of these (Gesualdo's sacred music, for the most part, was a good deal less experimental than his madrigals), but pieces like...
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